Truro City vs Yeovil Town – Match Report

Enterprise National League

By Tom Howe, Truro City Stadium, Friday

Truro City 1 – Yeovil Town 0

Tyler Harvey’s first half strike provided the perfect late Christmas present for a Truro City side that held on to beat West Country rivals Yeovil Town 1-0.

The Tinners were made to work hard for their second win in three National League outings, with the Glovers throwing the proverbial kitchen sink their way in the second half but to ultimately no avail.

Truro’s backline were in inspired form, with goalkeeper Aidan Stone forced into very few – if any – saves of note. When he eventually was beaten, his crossbar came to the rescue to keep out Jacob Wannell’s powerful header,

The win could and perhaps should have been more comfortable but for the heroics of Glovers custodian Jed Ward, who made a string of admirable saves to prevent City from adding to their advantage.

Ten places, 12 points and 141 miles separated the two sides going into the game, with the sub six hour round trip from Huish Park to The TCS making this something of a derby day.

Yeovil are the Tinners’ nearest geographical rivals in the National League – with the 282 mile round trip between them a drop in the ocean compared to the 930 mile journey to Gateshead and back.

Amongst the Tinners ranks, both Stone and Ryan Law were previously on the books at Yeovil themselves, as were Shaun Donnellan and Harry Kite (on loan to Weston-super-Mare).

📷Goal celebrations for Tyler Harvey of Truro City during the National League match between Truro City and Yeovil Town at Truro City Stadium on 26th December 2025 Photo: Tom Sandberg/PPAUK

Lining up for the Glovers, meanwhile, was one Harvey Greenslade, who enjoyed two successful loan spells with the Tinners as a teenager back in 2023.

During that time he helped Truro to promotion into National League South, scoring a penalty in the semi-final shootout success over Poole Town. That was prior to a dramatic 3-2 final victory against Bracknell Town, when club captain Connor Riley-Lowe struck a memorable winner in the dying embers. 

Fast forward almost 1,000 days and Riley-Lowe was one of four changes manager Askey made to a Tinners side beaten 4-0 at York City last time out. Will Dean, Yassine En-Neyah and Harvey were also back in, with Luke Jephcott, Max Kinsey and Cole Deeming reverting to the bench. Dan Rooney missed out altogether.

Fourteenth placed Yeovil had seen a four match unbeaten run, a spell that included three straight wins, brought to an end by Truro’s final opponents of 2025 – Forest Green Rovers – last Saturday, with Robbie Savage’s charges winning 2-0 at Huish Park despite being reduced to ten men midway through the second half.

Bottom of the table Truro, meanwhile, saw the high of their 2-0 victory over Wealdstone quickly overshadowed by a chastening 4-0 loss at Rovers’ promotion rivals York, a result that left City with just the solitary win from their previous ten outings in all competitions.

The fight back had to start somewhere however, and what better place than in front of a sold out stadium and on one of English football’s finest traditions – the bumper Boxing Day fixture list.

They could very well have been the parting words of Askey as the Tinners took to the field, with the hosts dominating the first half and pinning the visiting Glovers into their own half. Their first opportunity arrived inside the opening five minutes, as Dom Johnson-Fisher slid the ball into the box where a lurking Harvey got a shot away that struck Ward and bounced clear.

Billy Rowley’s charges were frustrated in their attempts to register any kind of meaningful possession and, when they did fashion an opportunity, found Dean, Donnellan and Tom

Harrison in imperious form at the back. The pressure continued to grow and grow at the other end meanwhile, with Yassine En-Neyah’s shot spinning wide via a deflection.

The Tinners were inches away from going ahead from the subsequent corner, with Ward getting a hand to Riley-Lowe’s header. His sheet was dirtied from the following delivery however, as Harvey stabbed City ahead from close range to score for the first time since the 2-2 draw at home to Aldershot Town on September 3rd.

Dean and Donnellan received further plaudits for their defensive work as they kept the Glovers response at bay, while Stone was on his toes to keep out Brett McGavin’s tamely struck effort from distance and James Plant shot wide.

Law was also catching the eye and popped up down the left channel when chasing down an apparent lost cause from Dean. His persistence paid off and allowed him to play in Johnson-Fisher, whose low drive was tipped on to the post by an excellent Ward, who watched on in the minutes that followed as En-Neyah’s strike whistled narrowly wide.

City looked to maintain their momentum into the second half but they met a different Glovers side after the break, one that enjoyed the lion’s share of possession and carved out chance after chance in their quest for an equaliser. Josh Tobin headed Plant’s cross over the bar, before the provider took matters into his own hands only to meet a towering Harrison.

The attacking fluency of the opening stanza turned into a backs to the wall, staunch rearguard action for City who, to a man, dug in doggedly and defended wave after wave of visiting pressure. Christian Oxlade-Chamberlain cut out a swift counter attack, before Harrison met Tobin’s delivery and Stone stepped off his line to comfortably collect a corner.

Johnson-Fisher could have provided some much needed breathing space but, having peeled away at the back post, couldn’t quite make the connection necessary to beat Ward. His opposite number was called back into action in the next attack but only to meet a speculative cross and to watch substitute Aaron Jarvis’ daisycutter arrow past the post.

It was all hands to the pump as the Glovers huffed and puffed but blow the City house down they didn’t as 11 warriors adorned in black and red more than earned their Boxing Day bubble and squeak.

In fact, it was the Tinners who came closest to adding to their tally when En-Neyah brought an outstanding fingertip save out of Ward with a half-volley from 20 yards. There was one final chance for the Glovers however, and it fell to skipper Wannell, who took it upon himself to lead from the front and rise above a sea of bodies to head a corner on to Stone’s crossbar.

That was as close as the visitors came, as four minutes of additional time were marshalled professionally, with only a Jarvis free kick into the side netting to speak of for a Glovers side kept largely at arm’s length.

Tinners: Stone, Riley-Lowe (capt), Dean, Harrison, En-Neyah, Harvey, Johnson-Fisher, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Hasani, Law, Donnellan; Subs Not Used: Lavercombe, Bell, Palfrey, Jephcott, Kinsey, Marsh, Deeming

Yeovil Town: Ward, Cousin-Dawson, Wannell (capt), Tobin (Jarvis, 65), McCormick, Daly, McGavin, Plant (Oluwabori, 69), Efete, Ferguson, Campbell (Greenslade, 65); Subs Not Used: Gould, Ellison, Sims, Jollife

Referee: Ross Martin

Attendance: 3,148 (568 away)

📷Goal celebrations for Tyler Harvey of Truro City during the National League match between Truro City and Yeovil Town at Truro City Stadium on 26th December 2025 Photo: Tom Sandberg/PPAUK

John Askey Post Match Reaction

by Gareth Davies

Boss John Askey said his Truro City side’s 1-0 win over Yeovil Town was ‘vital’ with away clashes against Forest Green and Southend next up for the Tinners.

Victory for Truro, their second on the spin at home, gives the Cornish outfit renewed optimism that they can survive a maiden National League campaign. Despite remaining bottom of the pile, Askey’s charges are now just three points from safety thanks to a deserved win over a lacklustre Yeovil outfit, thanks to outstanding home striker Tyler Harvey’s 17th minute goal.

“It was one of those games that we had to win, just like our previous home game,” Askey said at full-time. “We have tough games coming up away from home, so it was vital that we got three points at home.

“Again, you couldn’t ask anymore of the players in terms of their commitment as there has been four or five of the squad unwell before the game. To get a result and put in the effort that they did is very pleasing.

“Of the two keepers, theirs was the busiest and I can only remember the fantastic save Aidan Stone made at the end, in terms of chances they created. But the main thing was three points and that win gets us up amongst it a bit.

“If we can be in and around things come the end of January, it gives us a great chance to survive and stay in the league.”

Truro raced from the traps in front of a sell-out crowd, the Tinners’ second full-house of the season. Harvey shot towards goal from inside the box, but Jed Ward, Yeovil’s on-loan Bristol Rovers custodian saved well.

Ward came to his side’s rescue again when he palmed Connor Riley-Lowe’s header from Lirak Hasani’s corner behind. The subsequent flag kick wasn’t dealt with by Yeovil and as the ball looped up inside the box, Harvey headed home for his third of an injury-hit campaign.

Yeovil never threatened their former incumbent Aidan Stone at the other end and but for Ward saving Dominic Johnson-Fisher’s near post effort as half-time approached, could have been further behind.

After the break, Yeovil continued to huff and puff but a combination of looking toothless in the final third and a disciplined Truro rearguard, saw the score remain at 1-0.

Indeed, Ward saved from Johnson-Fisher before a Yassine En-Neyah effort from distance was saved quite superbly by a now overworked Glovers stopper.

But there was almost a twist in the tale when visiting skipper Jacob Wannell saw his header pushed onto the crossbar by Stone and substitute Aaron Jarvis fired narrowly over with a free-kick.

“Credit to Truro because they set up and got an early set-piece goal which is what they are famous for,” Yeovil boss Billy Rowley added.

“We didn’t deal with it well enough and then you are on the back foot, away from home, against a team that will fight for everything, who ran the clock down when they needed to and fair play to them for that.

“We had some decent moments in the game but not enough. Our job as a management team is to iron out what we want to see more of from our team and what we see less of.”

📷Goal celebrations for Tyler Harvey of Truro City during the National League match between Truro City and Yeovil Town at Truro City Stadium on 26th December 2025 Photo: Phil Mingo/PPAUK